Air conditioner



July 19, 1960 Filed May 6, 1957 I. L. GOULD ETAL AIR CONDITIONER 6Sheets-Sheet 1' Y INVENTOR$ IRA L Gouw RICHARD f, THOMPSON w vqizg THEIRATTORNEY y 1960 I. L. GOULD ET AL 2,945,362

AIR CONDITIONER Filed May 6, 1957 e Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS [RA 1. GouwRICHARD f. THOMPSON BYZW THEIR ATTORMEY July 19, 1960 L. GOULD ET AL AIRCONDITIONER 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 6, 1957 INVENTORS 1' RA 1. ouw

BY RICHARD E. THOMPSON THEIR ATTORLAZY l. L. GOULD ETAL AIR CONDITIONERJuly 19,1960

6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 6, 1957' I kn L. 60am RICHARD E'uowsou THEIRATTORNEY July 19, 1960 L. GOULD ETAL 2, 5,3 2

AIR CONDITIONER Filed May 6, 1957 6 Sheets-sheaf 5 RICHARD E. THOMPSONTHEIR ATTORNEY July 19, 1960 I. L. GQULD ETAL AIR CONDITIONER Filed May6, 1957 R N S O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O OO O O O O O O O O 0 0 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O Q 0 O O O OO O O O O O O O O O O O O O O wfi 3 R r 3 a Q \MN iw m a QN QQN a 3 3us.

THEIR ATTORNEY cages.

AIR CONDITIONER Ira L. Gould, Hamilton, and Richard E. Thompson, Dayton, Ohio, assignors to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich, acorporation of Delaware Filed May 6, 1957, Ser. No. 657,209

7 Claims. (Cl. 62-429) This invention relates to refrigerating apparatusand more particularly to thin window type air conditioning apparatus.

The first widely sold window air conditioners were flat, wide and longso that they projected inside the window and outside the windowconsiderable distances.

' Even in the smaller sizes the projection was more than a footin eachdirection. This provided sufficient space for .large evaporators,condensers, fans, and for air flow. There have been increasingobjections to this amount of projection and new, compact, thin typeconditioners have been introduced which are slightly higher and widerbut much thinner, so that the projection is 7 much less.

It is an object of this invention to provide a thinner .window type,large capacity air conditioner which is compactly arranged, with themaximum use of spac and the free flow of indoor and outdoor air.

It is another object of this invention to provide a thinner window typeair conditioner with. a compact, dual fan arrangement which is quiet,efiicient and inexpensive.

It is another object of this invention to provide an efiicient, compactrefrigerating system for thin window air conditioners.

,These and other objects are attained in the form shown in the drawinginwhich a thin, compact cabinet shell is" provided with a room air inletand an outdoor air inlet on opposite sides. The chassis is slidablymounted within the cabinet shell and is provided with a base whichsupports the evaporator in .the room air inlet and the condenser-in theoutdoor air inlet. The chassis also supports a dual squirrel cagecentrifugal fan driven by a single motor located entirely within thedual The cages and the surrounding discharge scroll are split andseparated by plastic insulating material so that one side is adjacent toand draws the air through the evaporator and the opposite side isadjacent to and .draws the air through the condenser. The scrolldischarges upwardly into plenum chambers located on opposite Thecondenser and evaporator and sufficient room for the sealed motorcompressor unit in the opposite end. In' the second form of theinvention, the condenser is located within the base of the chassis, butthe side-by-side dual fan arrangement is also used in this instance.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

wherein a preferred form clearly shown.

Inthe drawings: t Figure l is a vertical sectional of the presentinvention is view of one form of improved window conditioner takensubstantially along the lines 1-1 of Figs. 2, 3 and 4;

Patented July 19, i960 Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view takenalert the lines 2-2 of Figures 1 and 4;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 ofFigures 1 and 4;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 ofFigures 1, 2 and 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the lines 5-5 ofFigure 4;

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view of the refrigerating system embodied inFigures 1-4;

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view of another form of the invention,taken along the lines 7-7 of Figure 8;

Figure 8 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken along the lines8-8 of Figure 7; and

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic view of the refrigerating system embodied inFigures 7 and 8.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Figs. 1-4, thereis shown a thin box-shaped cabinet shell including a rear wall providedsubstantially throughout with louvers, a top 22, a bottom wall 24, andend walls 26 and 28 which may be made as a unit. In addition, there isprovided a front wall 30 which may be removable so that therefrigerating system may be slid into the shell and thereafter the frontis fastened in place. The chassis includes a base pan 32 normallyresting upon the bottom 24 and having turned up flanges. At one cornerof the base pan 32 is mounted an assembly which includes an enclosurecontaining a top wall 34, a bottom wall 36, side walls 38 and 40, anouter face 42 and an inner ring 44 provided with a substantially centralopening 46. This assembly forms the enclosure for the condenser 48. Thisenclosure is sealed to the rear wall 20 by a suitable sponge rubber sealextending around its perimeter between the face 42 and the wall 20, asshown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. I Upon the opposite side there is anevaporator enclosure including a bottom wall 52, side walls 54 and 56,and a front face 58 having alarge opening in which is positioned theevaporator 60. The front wall 30 is provided with louvers 62 in front ofthe evaporator and also louvers 64 extending completelyacross the top ofthis wall 30. The evaporator enclosure also includes the inner ring 66provided with an inlet aperture 68. The front face 58 is provided with aperimeter seal 59 of g aonge rubber extending into contact with thefront wall Located directly between the condenser 48 and the evaporator60 is a dual squirrel cage type centrifugal fan having the motor 78, 82entirely within the dual fan in a free flowing space saving arrangement.In the form shown in Figs. 1-6 the rings 44 and 66 are provided withthreeearmed formed sheet metal spiders 70 and 72 which have their armsflanged. The intersection of the flanges supports a triangular shapedrubber mounting 74 receiving the ends of a stationary shaft 76. Theshaft 76 connects directly to a stationary wound inner element 78. Theelectric current for the inner element is supplied through conductors 80extending through a hollow portion of the shaft 76. The outer portion 82of the motor rotates.- The condenser squirrel cage fan 84 is connectedat its inner face through an insulating ring 86 to the flange 88. Theevaporator fan ,90 has its inner face connected by the hat-shapedsupport 92 of insulating ma- .terial to the outer element 82 of the fan,as shown in Fig. 4. The hat-shaped element 92 covers the one end of themotor and insulates the motor from the room air flow. The sealedmotor-compressor unit 94 is fastened to the base 32 by four resilientmountings 96. This unit discharges through the conduit 98 into the topof the condenser 48. The bottom of the condenser 48 is connected by aconduit 121 to. a finned heat exchange tube 123 ex tending through andwithin the top header 125 of the evaporator 60. The opposite end of thisfinned heat exchange tube 123 is connected by the capillary tube 127 tothe bottom header 129 of the evaporator 60. The interior of the topheader 125 surrounding the tube 123 is connected by the suction conduit131to the suction'inle't of the sealed motor-compressor unit 94.

Extending over the sealed moto r compressor unit, the evaporator "andthe fans is a horiiontal partition wall 133. This wall 133 is spacedbelow the top inner wall 134 and 'iscut out to receive the condenserenclosure. It also has a cut-out opening 135 over the "fans. Theevaporator fan "90 is surrounded by a scroll discharge section 137 Whilethe condenser fan 84 is surrounded by the scroll discharge section 139.These scroll sections are. separated by a vertical wall 141 of plasticinsulating'material extending substantially to the periphery of theouter portion "82 of the motor. The scroll sections 137 and 139 haveoutwardly turned flanges which are fastened together through theseparating wall 141. The scrolls extend into "seal-ing contact with thewalls 44- and 66 and also with the upper horizontal wall 133. Thehorizontal wall 133 is provided with dual angle brackets 143 whichsupport *a'vertical partition 145 dividing the space above the hori--zontal wall 133 and below the top wall 134 into an evaporator plenumchamber 147 and a condenser discharge plenum chamber 149. This wall 145is preferably of -pl'astic insulating material aligned with the wall 141and sealed thereto.

By this arrangement, when the window unit is placed in a window with thewall on the outside and the Wall on the inside, outdoor air is drawnthrough the louvers -in thewall 20 through the condenser '48 and throughthe flanged opening 46 into the interior of the fan wheel 84 around theouter portion 82 of the motor which revolves with the wheel 84. Theoutdoor air -is discharged centrifugally from the fan wheel 34 into thedischarge scroll 139 and passes upwardly through the condenser side of-the opening 135 and the condenser plenum chamber 149 to be dischargedoutside through a portion of the louvers in the wall 20.

The roomair is drawn through the louvers 62 in the 'Wall 30 directly infront of the evaporator 60. The air then passes through the evaporator60 and the opening '68 in the ring 66 around the insulating support 92into the interior of the evaporator fan wheel 90. This air is"discharged through the evaporator fan discharge scroll section 137 andthrough the evaporator side of the opening 135 into the evaporatorplenum chamber 147. This cooled air then discharges from chamber 147through the louvers 64 extending across "the top "of the front wall 30back into the room.

Fresh air is provided by an'op'enin'g '151 in the wall 66 beneath thescroll 137 which may be closed by a door 153. This allows air from 1 thecompartment containing "the motor-compressor unit 94 to flow through theopening 1-51 behind the-evaporator60 and into the fan wheel 90. Forexhausting air, the evaporatorjscroll 137 is provided with a hinged door155 which covers or uncovers an opening in the scroll at a high pressurepoint, so that "some air will be discharged by the evaporator fan into.the space beneath the scroll which communicates with "the outsidethrough the compartment containing the "motor-compressor unit 94.

. If the air in the room ishumid, the evaporator 60 will .cool this airsufiiciently tocause moisture to condense on its surfacestheirece'pta'cle 157 beneath. This receptacle 157 is pro- This moisturewill drain and collect in vided with a drain tube 159 connecting with amotor driven atomizer 161 which discharges through the slot =163into the"outside atmosphere.

- The refrigerating system and the fans are controlled by the 'knob 165on the frontof the cabinet mounted on a knob shaft connecting with thecontrol mechanism 167 within the shell.

f4 ,.-,.-In,-the form'shown in Figs. 7-9, the outer shell'202 issomewhat similar and includes a lower inlet outdo'orair flat box havingan inlet opening 214 registering with the opening 204 and outletopenings 216 and 218 in its upper wall. Within the base 212 is locatedthe slightly inclined, generally'horizontal condenser 220. havingupwardly extending passages between the upright fins This condenser isspaced well above the bottom of the base 212 so that the condenser aircan flow beneath the condenser 220 and then upwardly throughthe'c'ondenser 220 to the openings 216 and 218 leading to opposite sidesof the condenser fan 242. The sealed motor-compressor unit 222 isresiliently mounted on top of the base 212 and has a discharge conduit224. connecting with the upper header 226 of the condenser 220.

The lower header 2280f the condenser is connected by the conduit 230 tothe heat exchange tube 232 located in and extending through thedischargeheader 234 of the evaporator 236. The opposite end of this finned heatexchange tube 232 is connected by the capillary tube .238 to thedistributor 240, in turn connected by four capillary tubes to variousgroups of tubes in the evaporator 236, all of which discharge into thedischarge header 234. The interior of the discharge header 234 isconnected by the suction conduit 242 to the suction inlet ofmotor-compressor unit 222.

The inlet opening 208, the evaporator 236, the fan motor 238, evaporatorfan 240 and the condenser fan 242 are located in alignment with eachother. The fan motor 238 has a conventional stationary outer portionsupported by the hat-shaped support 244 and the vertical wall 246. Thisfan motor 238 has shafts on both ends connecting with the outer facesofthe evaporator and condenser fans 240 and 242. The wall 246 dividesthe room air from the outdoor air and forms one side of the dischargescroll for the evaporator fan 240. The opposite side 248 of thedischarge scroll is provided with the inlet 250 for the evaporator fan240. The evaporator fan 240 and its scroll discharge through the opening252 in the horizontal wall 254 providing a compartment above theevaporator 236 and the fans 240 and 242 forming a room air plenumchamber 256 discharging through the discharge opening 210 and back intothe room.

The condenser fan discharge scroll has its inner side 258 separated fromthe'dividing wall 246 to provide a vertical passage 260 communicatingwith the inlet opening 262 in the wall 258. The outer side 264 of thecondenser :Ean discharge scroll is spaced away from the closed wallportion 266 extending upwardly from the outer edge of the base 212 toprovide a vertical passage leading to an opening 268 in the wall 264.This provides openings 262 and 264 into the opposite sides of thecondenser -fan blower wheel 242 to provide efiicient movement of air tothe upper'discharge opening 270 in the top wall. The opening 270discharges into the outdoor air plenum chamber 272 dischargingthroughthe opening 206 into the outdoor air. This arrangement alsoprovides a compact, eflicient, thin window unit.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosedconstitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted, as may come within the scope of the claims whichfollow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. Air conditioning apparatus including a casing having afirst Walladapted to be exposed to outside air and a 'second wall on the oppositeside of the casing adapted to be exposed to inside air, said first andsecond walls each having air inlets located substantially opposite eachother, an evaporator located series with the inlet in said second walland a condenser located in series'with the inlet in said first wall, aset of blower wheels'fas'tened together, heat insulating means betweensaid blower wheels, one'of said wheels having its interior communicatingwith the inside face of said evaporator and the other having itsinterior communicating with the inside face of said condenser, adividing means of heat insulating material in a plane between saidwheels and separating the discharge of the wheels, a discharge scrollsection for each of said wheels located on opposite sides of saiddividing means, said casing having discharge outlets communicating witheach of said scroll sections, and means for driving said blower wheels.

2. Air conditioning apparatus including a casing, a dividing wall insaid casing dividing the room air from the outdoor air, said wall having"an opening therein, a set of blower wheels fastened together with heatinsulating means between the wheels located in said opening with onewheel on one side and the other wheel on the opposite side ofsaiddividing wall, amotor within said blower wheels having a rotatableexterior fastened to said wheels and a stationary interior, evaporatingmeans in the room air side of said casing and dividing wall, condensingmeans in the outdoor air side of said casing :and dividing wall, saidcasing being provided with air flow structure connecting one wheel inseries with the condensing means and the other wheel in series with theevaporating means, said casing being provided with means for supportingthe stationary interior of the motor.

3. Air conditioning apparatus including a casing having a first walladapted to be exposed to outside air and :a second wall on the oppositeside of the casing adapted 'to be exposed to inside air, said first andsecond walls each having air inlets located substantially opposite eachother, an evaporator located in series with the inlet in said secondwall and a condenser located in series with the inlet in said firstwall, a set of blower wheels rotatable upon a substantially horizontalaxis extending be- :tween the evaporator and condenser and having theirinteriors communicating with the interior sides of said evaporator andcondenser, means for driving said blower wheels, upright dividing meansextending between said blower wheels and beyond dividing said casing'toseparate the outside air from the room air, a horizontal wall extendingwithin and beneath the top of said casing above said blower wheelsforming a discharge chamber, a discharge scroll surrounding the blowerwheels discharging upwardly, said horizontal wall having an openingcommunicating with the discharge scroll surrounding the blower wheels,an upright dividing wall in said discharge chamber extending over saidopening and said dividing means for separating the air drawn from thecondenser and evaporator, said casing being provided with outlets fromsaid discharge chamber on each side of said dividing wall.

4. Air conditioning apparatus including a casing having a first walladapted to be exposed to outside air and a second wall on the oppositeside of the casing adapted to be exposed to inside air, said first andsecond walls each having air inlets located substantially opposite eachother, an evaporator located in series with the inlet in said secondwall and a condenser located in series with the inlet in said firstwall, a blower housing located directly between said condenser andevaporator having an inlet on one side communicating directly with theadjacent side of the evaporator and an air inlet on the opposite sidecommunicating directly with the adjacent side of the condenser, a motorwithin said housing having a stationary inner portion and a rotatableouter portion, said blower housing having means supporting saidstationary inner portion, blower wheels and heat insulating meansbetween the blower wheels fastened to said rotatable outer portion, anddividing means of heat insulating material dividing said blower housingand the interior thereof extending between said blower wheels toseparate the 6 outside and the inside air, and separate discharge meansfor the two portions of the blower.

-5. Air conditioning apparatus including a longitudinal casing having afirst wall extending lengthwise of the casing adapted to be exposed tooutside air and a second wall extending lengthwise of the casing on theopposite side of the casing adapted to be exposed to inside air, saidfirst and second walls each having adjacent one end thereof air inletslocated substantially opposite each other, an upright evaporator locatedparallel to said second wall and in series with and directly adjacent tothe inlet in said second wall and a condenser located parallel tosaidlfirst wall and in series with and directly adjacent to the inlet insaid first wall, a set of blower wheels adjacent eachother rotatableupon a substantially horizontal axis substantially perpendicular to saidfirst and second walls extending between and directly adjacent to theevaporator and condenser and having their interiors communicating withthe interior sides of said evaporator and condenser, means for drivingsaid blower wheels, upright dividing means extending between said blowerwheels and beyond dividing said casing to separate the outside air fromthe inside air, said casing being provided with inside and outside airoutlets, said blower wheels having a discharge scroll in sections on andin contact with opposite sides of said dividing means with one sectionconnecting with said inside air outlet and another section connectingwith said outside air outlet, and a motor-compressor unit located insaid casing within the end opposite to said blower wheels and beyondsaid evaporator.

6. Air conditioning apparatus including a longitudinal casing having afirst wall extending lengthwise of the casing adapted to be exposed tooutside air and a second wall extending lengthwise of the casing on theopposite side of the casing adapted to be exposed to inside air, saidfirst and second walls each having adjacent one end thereof air inletslocated substantially opposite each other, an upright evaporator locatedparallel to said second wall and in. series with and directly adjacentto the inlet in said second wall and a condenser located parallel tosaid first wall and in series with and directly adjacent to the inlet insaid first wall, a set of blower wheels adjacent each other rotatableupon a substantailly horizontal axis substantially perpendicular to saidfirst and second walls extending between and directly adjacent to theevaporator and condenser and having their interiors communicating withthe interior sides of said evaporator and condenser, means for drivingsaid blower wheels, upright dividing means extending between said blowerwheels and beyond dividing said casing to separate the outside air fromthe inside air, said casing being provided with a horizontal wall oversaid evaporator between said upright dividing means and said second wallto provide a discharge chamber, said second wall having a dischargeopening above said horizontal wall communicating with said dischargechamber, the blower wheel adjacent said evaporator being provided with adischarge scroll discharging through said horizontal wallinto saiddischarge chamber, said casing being provided with an outside airoutlet, said blower wheel adjacent said condenser being provided with adischarge scroll for delivering air to said outside air outlet, and amotor-compressor unit located in'said casing within the end opposite tosaid blower wheels and beyond said evaporator.

7. Air conditioning apparatus including a rectangular box-shaped casinghaving a first upright wall extending lengthwise of the casing adaptedto be exposed to outside air and a second upright wall extendinglengthwise of the casing on the opposite side of the casing adapted tobe exposed to inside air, said casing also having top and bottom and endwalls, said first and second walls each having adjacent one end thereofair inlets located substantially opposite each other, an uprightevaporator located parallel to said second wall and in series with anddirectly adjacent to the inlet in said second wall, a con- 7 denserlocated parallel to said first wall and in series with and directlyadjacent to the inlet in said first wall, a set of blower wheelsadjacent each other rotatable upon a substantially :horizontal axissubstantially perpendicular to said first and second walls'extendingbetween and directly adjacent to the evaporator and condenser and havingtheir interiors communicating with the interior sides of said evaporatorand condenser, means for driving said blower wheels, a horizontal wallextending between said first and second walls and said end wall beneathsaid top wall and above said evaporator and said 'blower wheels, uprightdividingmeans extending between said blower wheels and beyond dividingsaid casing to sep arate the outside air from'the inside air, saidblower wheels having discharge scrolls on opposite sides of saiddividing means, said horizontal wall having an opening thereinconnecting with the discharge portion of said scrolls, upright dividingwall extending between said horizontal wall and the top wall and betweenthe end walls to divide the space between the horizontal wall and thetop wall, said upright dividing means and upright dividing wallcooperating to keep the outside air and the inside air separated,saidcasing having an inside air discharge opening insaid second wallabove said horizontal wall and outside air opening insaid first wallcommunicating with the space above said'horizontal wall on the condenserside of said .npright dividing means and wall, and a motor-compressorunitlocated in said casing-within the end opposite said blower wheelsbeneath .said horizontal wall.

References Cited in the file .of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

